11 Nov A MOST IMPORTANT PRAYER TO SAVE US FROM THE SATAN

In our Maariv prayers,
we make a very
important request of
Hashem. “V’haseir
Satan mil’faneinu
u’mei’achareinu –
Remove the Satan from
in front of us and from behind us.” The
simplest explanation of this petition is
that we ask that when the Satan stands in
front of us, attempting to block us from
doing good, and when he stands behind
us pushing us to do bad, he should be
thwarted from his machinations and we
should be saved from his intentions.
I would like to point out that there are
many layers to this all-important prayer.
One of the chief methods of the Satan is
to make a person feel that he’s so far gone
that it doesn’t even pay to start doing
good. For example, if a person grew up
acting rotten to his parents, the Satan tries
to convince him that he’ll never be able
to overcome his history and so it doesn’t
even pay to try. Similarly, a person who
never picked up a sefer to learn, in his
older years feels that it’s just too late to
start. He thinks he’s missed the boat.
Many people burdened by guilt from

their past throw in the towel and don’t try
to reform in their later years.
The Torah tells us that by Sarah Imeinu,
it says, “Shnei chayei Sarah,” repeating
that “These are the years of Sarah.” Rashi
explains this is coming to inform us that
all her years were equally good. The
Das Zekeinim miBaalei haTosefos notes
that, later on, it says the same phrase by
Yishmael, “Shnei chayei Yishmael,” and,
of course, all his years were certainly
not equally good. After all, Avraham
had to send him out of the home because
he was a mitzacheik who did idolatry,
immorality and bloodshed. So, how can
this phrase equally apply to Sarah Imeinu
and Yismael?
The Das Zekeinim answers with a
remarkable idea. Later in life, Yishmael
did teshuvah, he became reborn like a
ger who is misgai’er, who is considered
k’katan she’nolad dami, like a child who
is newly born and his early sins were
discounted. The Riva goes one step
further and says that since Yishmael did
teshuvah mei’ahavah, repentance out of
love, his sins were converted to zechuyos,
to merits. Thus, all his years were all

considered as good. So,
rather than being burdened
by guilt, one should realize
they should look ahead
and they certainly can
convert the past into a
positive. This is another
understanding of “V’haseir
Satan mil’faneinu,” to
remove the Satan from
in front of us when he
attempts to burden us with
feelings of guilt.
We should also not underestimate the
powers that the Satan has to try to thwart
us from doing good. It says that before
the Akeidah, the Satan disguised himself
as an old man who tried to convince
Avraham not to do the Akeidah. When
that failed, the Satan then appeared like
a raging sea trying to block Avraham’s
path. After Avraham plowed ahead,
before the Akeidah, Avraham took the
precaution of hiding Yitzchak in a box
so that the Satan shouldn’t try to make a
blemish in Yitzchak in order to disqualify
him from the Akeidah. So, when we say,
“Remove the Satan from before us,” we
must realize how much the license the
Satan has to try to thwart us from our
service of Hashem.
When Sarah Imeinu died, it says that
Avraham cried. The Torah writes the
word livkosah, with a small kof to
indicate that his crying was somewhat
minimized. The commentators give
many reasons for this, such as Sarah
was old or that she was completely
righteous and going to a better world.
However, many explain that Sarah
died from the shock of the Satan
giving her the news about the Akeidah.
Thus, Avraham deliberately avoided
shedding copious tears in order that no
one should think he regretted taking
Yitzchak to the Akeidah.
This is another important meaning
behind the request to remove the Satan
mei’achareinu, from afterwards. We
ask Hashem that the Satan should never
succeed in causing us regret having
done a mitzvah. Examples of this
could be a person who gives a quarter
to tzedakah and then later doesn’t have
a quarter to put in the meter. Or, in a
much more serious vein, a person who
spends years learning Torah and then,
when he isn’t able to make a living, the
Satan tries to make him regret the years
he spent learning and not learning a
trade.

After the Akeidah, Avraham returned
back to Yishmael and Eliezer. (Yitzchak
might have been in Shamayim to be
healed or he might have gone already
to the Yeshiva of Sheim v’eEiver.) The
Torah states, “Vayeilchu yachdav – They
went together.” The Brisker Rav, zt”l,
zy”a, explains that this is to convey
that just as Yishmael and Eliezer, who
didn’t do anything lofty were not feeling
pride, so too Avraham Avinu, who had
achieved the magnificent success of
the challenge of the Akeidah, did not
feel any personal hubris. This is yet
another meaning of removing the Satan
mei’achareinu, from afterwards. When
we succeed in overcoming temptation
and we accomplish levels of greatness
in learning, prayer or charity, Hashem
should remove the Satan from afterwards,
who tries to trip us up with feelings of
haughtiness and pride.
In the merit of this wonderful prayer,
may Hashem bless us with long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.